A Very Weasley Christmas
by SwordGold
Summary: The title says it all. Weasley banter and fluff all packed and delivered. (One-shot)


_Hi, so I wrote this one-shot a while ago but I deleted it because I wasn't in a confident place with my writing and then I had the psychological shit otherwise known as life smack me in the face so I never really got around to reposting it until one of my delightful readers (they know who they are *wink*) mentioned it again and here we are! _

_I'm not sure where about this story lies in terms of the classical canon (both regarding the Harry Potter series and my other Harry Potter related stories) because I can't for the life of me remember a time (other than the Order of the Phoenix or the Half-Blood Prince) when all the Weasleys spent Christmas together with Harry included so I decided to make one up because why the hell not? I did mention this once in my latest story but you can put it wherever you want I guess ... _

_And besides, I think you can all agree that we could all use a little bit of Charlie/MC fluff in our lives am I right?_

_Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this! - S.G._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I am merely a Potterhead who likes to write. _

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**A Very Weasley Christmas**

* * *

Charlie nervously played with my fingers as we walked down Ottery Street and up the drive towards the Burrow hand-in-hand.

The house itself towered over a magnificent garden of blossoms and various shrubs, with chickens pecking in the yard by a vegetable patch that grew pumpkins the size of mini cars. It would seem that, as the Weasley family had grown in size, so had their house; with different levels being stacked on top of one another in different shades of teal all held up by magic. Charlie seemed to follow my gaze, anxiety flittering in his brown eyes.

"I know it's nothing much," he said quickly as we reached the gate that swung in automatically.

"I think it's great," I replied.

He didn't meet my gaze, his eyes suddenly on his feet as he scuffed his boots against the gravel.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

He finally looked down at me as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't know," he murmured in an uncharacteristically uneven voice, "I've just never done anything like this and I don't know …"

It took me a few moments to register what he was trying to say. Did that mean that I was the first person that he'd ever brought home? The thought caused my heart to flutter slightly.

"Wait, are you saying that I'm the only person that you've ever brought home?" I inquired curiously. He broke eye contact and cleared his throat.

"Let's go."

He began to walk just a bit faster as he reached the door. I was about to bring up the topic again but two boys who were completely identical opened the door before I had the chance to. Fred and George (or the "Trouble makers" as Charlie called them) had both been in their second year when we were in our last.

"Wow," they said in unison, "We knew Charlie was bringing someone home but we thought that it was gonna be a lizard or something but you've gotten … wow."

"All right outta the way arseholes," Charlie shoved past them as he led me in through the corridor.

"CHARLES WEASLEY! How many times must I tell you? – NO _CURSING_ IN MY HOUSE!"

A plump woman with fiery red curls tutted as she came in with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry Mum," Charlie apologised as he went to give her a kiss on the cheek, "You already know Bethany right? Wait, of course, you do ..."

I was about to shake her hand but she pulled me into a bone-crushing hug instead. I smiled and found myself hugging her back.

"It's lovely to see you again Mrs Weasley," I said as I massaged my bruised ribcage.

"Oh call me Molly, darling. Charlie has been telling me so much about you, and my, both of you are looking so _thin_."

"_Mum_," Charlie mumbled beneath his breath.

"Oh hush now," she shushed him with a light pinch of his cheek before turning towards me with the same warm smile, "You've made it just in time for dinner dearies. Ginny's just set the table, come right in."

She ushered me inside, practically dragging me into the kitchen with Charlie close behind. I managed to sit down at the table and Charlie scooted into the chair next to me.

Bill then came down with a broad smile on his face. He'd changed a lot since he'd graduated from Hogwarts, now wearing his long hair in a low ponytail and a fang piercing that his mother had no doubt disapproved of to match his black leather jacket.

"Bethany, you get more beautiful every time I see you," he teased as he gave my shoulder a little squeeze before his eyes went from me to Charlie with a smirk playing on his lips.

"So little brother, you finally gathered the guts to bring her for Christmas all on your own this time," I felt his gaze trail between us, "Nice."

"Hey, keep your eyes up here Bill," Charlie hollered back angrily.

Bill chuckled as he sat down across from me, "I ask you again, are you sure you're here with the right Weasley?"

I laughed and nodded.

"Bill," Charlie growled with a glare that had the full intention of drawing his wand.

"Sorry, sorry – only kidding," he held up both his hands in a show of sincerity, though he followed this with a wink, "I heard about your recent promotion, congratulations on that by the way."

I felt my cheeks flush in a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. I'd only told Charlie about it so far. Bill had spent most of his time excavating tombs in Ancient Egypt. I, on the other hand, had returned to Gringotts' headquarters to deal with some of the less exciting cases since our head of Department had retired after catching a nasty case of Dragon Pox.

"How did you know?" I asked.

Bill grinned, "Oh, word about the famous prodigy Cursebreaker rising up through Gringotts' ranks has gotten around like wildfire," he replied with a wave of his hand, "Though it would have helped if this git responded to my letters," he pointed at Charlie who shrugged his shoulders, "didn't want me to whisk you away I suppose."

"Bill," Charlie hissed.

"Kidding, kidding."

Percy, another orange-haired boy with a lanky build and horn-rimmed glasses appeared with his nose practically glued to his book, clearly too absorbed by it to pay Charlie and me any attention.

"Don't mind Perce," Bill apologised cheerfully, "He hasn't spoken to any of us yet either."

The spectacled redhead turned his nose at us rather poshly before his eyes fell back on his book.

"Yeah," Fred added, "Percy's just a wanker."

"Language," Mrs Weasley shushed before she called for the other kids who all came bolting down the stairs towards the table, which magically elongated to accommodate them all. The only other girl quickly ran up to Charlie's side with a huge smile.

"Ooh, finally you're here! Now we can have some girls' talk!" she gushed and threw her arms around me in a tight embrace, which despite my initial surprise I returned with just as much enthusiasm. She had Charlie's eyes and freckles only unlike his hair that was slightly curly hers was straight and fell over her shoulders.

"Hey, Ginny I've got something for you," Charlie turned towards me, reaching into the pocket my jacket before handing the girl a small egg.

"Do not lose it and do not let mum see it alright?" he murmured. She jumped up slightly, throwing her arms around both of us.

"Oh thank you!" she grinned as she tucked it into the pocket of her dressing gown before she ran along to the other side of the table. Mrs Weasley was too busy levitating various festive foods in different dishes over to the table.

"Ronald! Harry! Come downstairs!"

I leaned closer to Charlie so that I could whisper in his ear, "Are you sure that it's the best idea to give your little sister a dragon egg?"

Charlie grinned, "Ah don't worry, it's Ginny – she'll be fine."

Two young boys came running into the kitchen. One looked like the others while the other one was absolutely unmistakable: messy jet black hair like his father, hiding the famous lightning-shaped scar that ran down his forehead and intelligent emerald green eyes like his mother – It was Harry Potter; the Boy Who Lived. The other boy; Ron smiled at us and waved, as Harry shyly followed suit.

Everybody had sat down at the table except for Mrs Weasley but there were still two seats left. She looked around to realise that somebody was missing.

"Where's your father?"

"Out in the garage," George replied as he stole a roast potato from the nearest dish.

His mother made a slightly annoyed huffing sound at the back of her throat, muttering something about her husband and his "silly muggle doodah's" as she stomped over to the back door. She threw it open and poked her head out.

"_ARTHUR!_ DINNER!"

"Coming dear!" came a yell from the yard.

Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes before she shut the door and sat down.

"Well, you can all dig in now. Especially you Harry."

Everybody began to reach for various foods, the room suddenly filled with the sound of loud laughter and knives scraping on plates. Moments later, the door opened and Mr Weasley entered with a broad smile. Everybody greeted him as he took his seat next to Charlie who got up to hug him.

"It feels like you grow more and more every time I see you," Mr Weasley remarked, his face crinkled into a smile as he regarded his son.

"I haven't grown," he grinned, "I think you've been shrinking old man." They both laughed. Mr Weasley's gaze moved over to me.

"Oh Bethany, how nice to see you again. Charlie recently mentioned that you know a lot about muggles is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Wonderful. Can you tell me something? How do mobile felly-tones work?"

The conversation went on throughout the evening. I had spent the night happily answering Mr Weasley's seemingly endless questions about muggle contraptions and laughing at Bill's jokes.

"I have to say that it's always a pleasant surprise when Charlie brings a girl home instead of a dragon," Mrs Weasley smiled as she passed out the gravy.

Charlie spluttered on his pumpkin juice, turning bright red as he pounded on his chest until his breathing had more or less gone back to normal.

The other Weasleys sniggered into their plates and even Harry cracked a smile.

It was only when Mrs Weasley began using her wand to clear the table and move all of the dishes to the sink that I let out a yawn before I could stop myself. Charlie flashed me a side-long-grin, "Mum, this was fantastic and all but we're both really tired from the trip here so we're going to call it a night," Charlie said.

I nodded in agreement as we both got to our feet.

"Well sleep well dears and um … don't stay up too late," Mrs Weasley paused awkwardly, not wanting to say what she was actually implying.

"We're opening presents early tomorrow morning."

Charlie's face burnt as red as his hair as he hurried out of the room with a muffled "Goodnight."

I followed him up to his room, which immediately felt like him. Various posters of different dragons plastered most of the walls so that you could barely see an inch of wallpaper – all of them moving and blowing different plumes of fire from their mouths.

The back wall was completely taken up by a bookcase that was overflowing with so many books that the wood seemed to lean over beneath their weight. I turned around to see him staring intently at me as if waiting for some sort of reaction.

I grinned, "This is brilliant."

Charlie looked just the slightest bit relieved as he ran a bashful hand through his hair.

"Well, it hasn't changed much from when I moved out … and I know it seems pretty nerdy and all …"

My eyes darted back over to the bookshelf.

"Well, aren't you lucky that you have a nerd for a girlfriend too?" I teased as I closed the space between us.

He laughed, his shoulders visibly relaxing as he slowly lost any of the nervousness that he'd had before. He planted a kiss against my forehead before reaching down and handing me my pyjamas from my luggage bag. I felt myself blush as he handed them to me. It wasn't like I'd never changed in front of him before, but being at the Burrow had made me acutely aware of everybody else who also lived here. Understanding flitted through his gaze as Charlie squeezed my shoulder.

"You change here, I'll go to the bathroom," he murmured quickly before disappearing down the corridor.

I tore off my clothes, slipping into my much comfier pyjamas quickly before I went to sit on his bed. He came back from the bathroom, knocking on the door and entering wearing only his favourite pair of pyjama pants despite the chilly weather. I smiled, unable to help but admire the way his muscles glistened in the shimmering candlelight as he walked over to the bed and slowly crawled in next to me. I put my hand on his chest, and he put his over mine, playing with my fingers lazily.

"So what do you think?" he began to bite his lip anxiously.

"You know that I love them. They're great. Your mum and dad have always been so kind to me and your siblings are so sweet and funny."

He let out a quick breath that he'd been previously holding in.

"Well, that's good."

"But, more importantly, what do you reckon they think of me?"

It had been a question that had been prodding at me for most of the night. He looked over me with a gentle smile.

"Couldn't you read their minds to find out?" he asked.

I batted his arm, "But that would be _rude_," I replied, "And besides ... I rather hear it from you."

"Well, if they have any sense they'll already be in love with you," he crooned, "You're perfect."

I leaned back, snuggled into his side as I felt myself unwind.

Silence settled over us for a minute before I turned to face him again.

"Then why were you so nervous? Your family is fantastic and this isn't the first time that I've spent Christmas at the Burrow, so what is it?"

Charlie frowned slightly as he bit his lower lip, clearly trying to figure out how to answer.

"Well … I don't know why I was nervous. I guess it's because I've never done anything like this before. The first time you came was different cause we barely knew each other back in our Second Year at Hogwarts and I've never done anything like this because well … other than you there's never been anybody special enough I guess. I don't know. I just want everything to be perfect and I guess it was because you're the only girl I've ever had serious feelings about so you've always made me nervous. I just want you to be happy and I want everything to be good for you and sometimes I'm just weird about it I guess."

I leaned forward and kissed him. He deepened the kiss as he pulled me closer, his large hands wrapping around my waist. I leaned back slightly so I could look into his deep brown eyes.

"I love you so much," I murmured. His gaze switched between my lips to my eyes as if trying to decide where they'd rather stay.

"Not nearly as much as I love you," he replied.

"Are they kissing yet?"

"Move _over_ Fred you're stepping on my toes!" I could just manage to see Ron who was trying to crane his head over Fred who was blocking his view.

"Will you shut up!" Fred snapped, "Do you _want_ them to hear us?"

"Yeah, what part of 'eavesdropping' don't you understand?" hissed George.

"Stop _spying_ on us for Merlin's sake!"

Charlie took his wand from the dressing table and pointed it in the direction of the door so that it slammed shut followed by a series of yelps and the sound of the door locking magically. A short bout of silencing spells later Charlie put his wand back on his dresser with an annoyed (yet arguably adorable) expression on his face.

"Gits," he muttered beneath his breath.

I giggled, as I brushed the curls of his hair out of his face.

I pressed another kiss against his lips before I drew back with a smile, "Now where were we?"

* * *

_Fin._

_And there we have it! One Weasley Christmas for all to share. I hope you guys enjoyed it :)_

_Yours truly,_

_Sword Gold. _


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